The Little Cherry Tree and the Lonely Strawberry
by lilmizzhugable13
Summary: Espada number 5, Kozakura (Little Cherry Tree), is sent to the World of the Living to spy on Ichigo Kurosaki for Aizen. When they both meet by accident and go on a date, what exactly happens when Kozakura has to eventually go back to Hueco Mundo? IchigoxOC, some one sided IchigoxOrihime Rated M for language and implied sexual scenes (NO LEMON)


**Chapter 1: A Night Full of Firsts**

Her legs burned. After all, standing on top of a lamp post, trying your hardest to remain unseen, does tire you out, even if you are an Espada. Standing still in just one place, breathing as silent as she can, trying not to move a muscle was getting very tiring, especially if you are a person who can't stand to stay still and if you're stuck in an uncomfortable gigai.

Kozakura was a very hyper person, which made this mission all the more irritating. She also couldn't stand this mission. Ichigo Kurosaki, the subject of interest. Aizen had sent her out to watch the Substitude Soul Reaper/Vizard and find out any points of weakness on him. He's just so paranoid. He knows that he's going to lose, but not without a fight, she thought.

The only reason why she ever stuck with him is not only because he could easily kill her, but because he could save her when she was an inch from death which was practically every week ever since she was created and quickly ranked. Something unexplainable had went awry when she was manufactured, and although she never found a reason, Kozakura believed Aizen purposely manipulated her creation in order to keep a chain on her by supplying her a weekly cure that can't be replicated or altered in any way. Why? Because she never did agree with Aizen's way of attacking. Hell, she didn't even agree with his intentions and actions. He had no reason to leave and betray the soul society. The only reason as to why he did was very simple: greed.

He was a greedy, unfair, cold, malicious, mean, sly, back-stabbing, betraying son-of-a-bastard, but mostly a greedy son-of-a-bastard. That about sums it up.

Plus, this mission is useless. This mission was no more than babysitting to her, which was insulting. She didn't see why her either. She was the 5th espada when she had killed Nnoitra, but Aizen could've send something more... obedient, calm, collected. Someone like Ulquiorra who was a total kiss-up to him. Not someone like her who's wild, crazy, and untamed. Not to mention boy-crazy. As soon as she had seen the Vizard, her thoughts and imagination ran wild without any restraints. Even now, as she's silently watching him sleep peacefully, she couldn't help but remember the heated fantasies of hers.

She imagined running her burning, soft, heated fingers through his soft, orange hair carelessly as he moaned with the new-found pleasure he was getting just with that simple action.

She imagined his bare, muscular chest pressed-up against her fully developed one, his hands roaming carelessly through her curves while moans indicating full pleasure came from her mouth softly while he smiled a smug smirk.

She imagined them kissing each other senseless as their tongues danced together, both of them lost in their own world, getting the feeling of being higher than a kite as he lightly, softly, and teasingly kissed her neck.

She imagined both their naked bodies pressed together, joined as one, showered with sweat, surrounded by heavy, hot air as both of their cries mix together in unison, feeling intense pleasure.

However, before her mind can go more descriptive and visual, she felt a stinging pain on her shoulder. Kozakura had only felt it for an instant, and she thought nothing of it, until she felt it again. Only this time, it felt like a wild fire was spreading across her back, untamed and deadly, making her bite down on her tongue to avoid screaming out loud in pain. A liquid oozed down her heated back from her already healed wound, one of the many props of being dead.

She flipped down gracefully to the ground, but as soon as she landed, turned around with urgency, contradicting her calm facade that she was trying to uphold. Just as she turned, her hand went straight to her ears as a high-pitched cry broke the deathly-silent air.

She looked up, and her eyes opened up with fright. Backing up, her back slamming up against the wall, she stared at the large... thing in front of her. It looked like a menos, but there were a few differences that contradicted that possibility. It had no mask, and it was too powerful for it to be an ordinary menos or any type of hollow for that matter. As it shifted, it took a step toward her direction. Kozakura's breath caught in her throat, her body slightly shaking. She has no idea what to do. Her gigai was basically impossible to get out of, considering Szayel didn't tell her how to, and she had no protection on her, just a small pocket knife in her boot.

_Damn. If I get out of here, I'm going to kill Szayel the next time I see him_, she thought bitterly to herself. Her hand inched slowly to her right boot, pulling her only means of protection. She could have easily killed whatever the hell was in front of her, but being out in the open, available to be seen by anyone who had traces of spiritual pressure, cause her to basically become useless.

The...thing...swiped at her direction. Barely dodging its claws, Kozakura wildly ran for a few miles, attempting to put distance between her and the hollow. All the while, she kept kicking herself for being a coward. Although, it's not like there was anything she can do. She can't release her spirit energy because it'll alert the soul reapers in Karakura Town, not to mention Ichigo, about her presence.

Eventually, she hit a dead end. _Fuck, _she cursed at herself. _I just had to turn down this way! _She turned back around just on time to notice the hollow turn into the dead end. It stood at the entrance of the street before it seemingly turned toward Kozakura.

She took a breath; one to calm her down, one she quickly exhaled when the thing started to move down the alley. Obviously, it was too big for the narrow alley, so the side of the buildings that made up the alley started to crumble and disintegrate. Good thing these buildings were abandoned.

She got into a defensive stance, knife prepared in one hand. She started to think of ways of to escape, but once it was halfway to her, it completely covered her line of vision.

_Shit._

A sense of helplessness started to sink into Kozakura as she started to calculate her odds of surving. So far, it's not so reassuring.

Once it got close enough to her andjust as she was ready to attack, she didn't need to move to kill the thing. In fact, her sudden rescue made her move to her butt on the floor.

The force of spiritual pressure that was exposed from the attack propelled her back, forcing her to the ground. Her eyes closed for a minute, and when they opened, she noticed four things:

1\. The thing wasn't there anymore because the stars took its place.

2\. The stars were surprisingly very beautiful that night (not that she had much to compare to since the last thing she's been watching these past nights are stars).

3\. Just as soon as they appeared, they were once again hidden behind a patch of orange.

4\. Heart attacks can happen even when you don't have a heart.

Her cover was just blown.

_Shit, _she cursed in her head, waiting for his sharp blade to repeat what it just did to that thing. Instead, all she saw was awkward fidgiting and his blade hanging by his side. Kozakura was confused as to his behavior until she looked down and realized she was still in her gigai. She looked completely normal to him.

_Maybe I'll show some leniency to Szayel, _she muses in her head.

"Umm..." Ichigo suddenly said, causing her to break out of her thoughts. Ichigo finally looked down at her. "Are you ok?" he said, handing out his hand for Kozakura to grab. She hesitantly took it, still worrying that somehow, by holding her hand, he'll discover what she really is and kill her right then and there. However, she was still in her gigai (not like she had a choice) which meant she looked completely human. That's all that mattered right now.

"I-I think s-so," she spoke with a fake stutter, slightly shivering to add emphasize on her 'traumatic experience'. Although she was just pretending, she did feel slightly shaken at the possibility that without Ichigo coming when he did, she would've been inside that monster's belly without having the proper chance to fight...

Not that she'd ever admit it.

Ichigo looked down at the shivering girl, slightly shocked. He finally got a good look at her and realized something right away:

She was very beautiful.

She looked completely ordinary; strawberry blonde hair, fair skin, hazel eyes. There was no outstanding features or distinguishing marks to set her apart from the crowd, but that was it. She didn't need any of that to be a perfect 10 in Ichigo's book because she was already an 11, even if he didn't even know her name, let alone her. Then again, she didn't know his.

Well, he could easily fix that.

"I'm Ichigo," he had said awkwardly to her, not meeting her expecting gaze as he rubbed the back of his neck with with his right hand. He cursed at his timid behavior. Fixing that problem was harder than it looked.

Trying not to fumble over his next words, he didn't notice the female next to him had a hand on her mouth, trying to stifle a laughter. After a few moments of (unsuccessfully) fighting to regain her composure, a hearty, uncontrollable laugh escape her lips, indicating that she lost. Ichigo broke from his inner turmoil when the sudden laugh finally reached his ears. It didn't take a genius to know what she was laughing for.

"My name doesn't mean strawberry! It's number one guardian!" But Kozakura was laughing too much to stop as he wanted to.

"I'm sorry! It's just..." She gasped, laughing at the end of her sentence. She couldn't finish it, and instead focused on trying to catch her breath.

"It's ok..." he mumbles under his breath, unable to her mad at the girl. "I get it all the time."_ Just not from someone who's as cute as you. _With a thought like that, his cheeks blushed slightly that it was almost unnoticeable; the only tell-tale sign of his flushed state being his bright red ears which Kozakura noticed.

"I'm Kozakura," she stated, taking note of Ichigo's immediate reaction. A shy smile snuck up to his face, one in which he tried to hide by frowning but failed miserably at. Kozakura scowled. "I get it! I have a cute name now shut up about it!"

By that time, Ichigo was amused at her reaction. Her cheeks were puffed and slightly flushed in a not so innocent way that Ichigo noticed but tried not to dwell on. For damn sakes, they barely met! He can't just immediately think of sex!

If only he knew what Kozakura is thinking of right now.

I guess I could ask her out, he thought and immediately shied away, looking down at his feet and putting his hand behind his head. He wanted nothing more but to cower away from her, to just say "Thanks! Bye!" and crawl under a rock so that way he couldn't never see her ever again. However, if he could avenge his mom's killer, break into the Soul Society, stop Rukia's execution, battle everyone in the Soul Society (Byakuya, Renji, Ikakku, Kenpachi [unfortunately], etc.), and now will take on Aizen head first in te approaching Winter War, then he could definitely do this.

If only it was that easy...

The sound of sirens in the distance made them both stiffen. Of course the police would be called. If not for the sound the thing made while practically destroying a city block, then surly the sheer shaking of buildings crumbling down would alarm authorities.

Once again calculating her odds of the possibility of escaping police questioning if she ran at full speed, she was interrupted when she realized she was no longer on the ground and instead in Ichigo's arms.

"Hold on," is all he says before he's flash-stepping away from the battle scene. She only had a second to wrap her arms around his neck or risk being blown out of his arms. Just as she started to get used to the image of blurred landscape, they stopped on an empty street. Ichigo's empty street.

Kozakura remained holding onto him as her mind tried to catch up to her body. She almost felt resentful for Ichigo's sudden escape plan, but then she'd be a hypocrite. There were instances where she'd surprise her fraccions by suddenly sonidoing away while carrying them. It had been funny because she'd always been on Ichigo's side. Being on the other side, however, she realized that maybe it isn't as fun as she thought. Almost vomiting on the sidewalk definitely supported that realization.

A few minutes pass, and for some reason, Kozakura suddenly feels very hot. Her back started to tingle and spread to her legs, particularly one specific region. She couldn't understand why until her world shook a bit. That's when her mind caught up with her and realized she was still in Ichigo's arms. The hard stare he was giving her told he either knew what she feeling or felt the exact same thing. Knowing her luck, it was probably both.

That's when the heat rose all the way up her body and onto her cheeks.

Kozakura laughed awkwardly, which in turn broke Ichigo out of his stare and caused a blush of his own to cover his cheeks. He placed her down onto the ground slowly, almost regrettably. The innocent touch had him thinking of not-so-innocent things, but in the end, he knew if he didn't set her down, he'd do something they'd boh regret.

Ichigo once again retreated to his awkward shyness. His thoughts from before their daring escape returned back to him. _Well, it doesn't hurt to ask, _he convinces himself. Before he loses whatever courage he was able to draw out in the first place, he speaks.

"Look... If you're not doing anything tomorrow, would you like to maybe... I mean you don't have to! I mean, you don't need to! If you don't want to... But if you do then maybe-" he got out, rambling on in anxiety. This wasn't as easy as the movies made it look.

Kozakura just laughed at his nervousness, feeling her own butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, I'm free."

Ichigo looked up at her in one quick action that made Kozakura's head spin. "Really?" He said in a tone of disbelief with wide eyes, making Kozakura giggle at his innocence. Ichigo seemed like a little kid to her, and it was a crime for her to say no to him. She nodded her head while stepping closer to the man in front of her.

When they were just a hair away, Kozakura stared up to meet his eyes. Consequently, Ichigo stared down at her after getting over his initial shock. His arms involuntarily slithered their way around her waist and hers around his neck, drawing each other into themselves. Kozakura closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling of heat ventilating from Ichigo's body to hers. Ichigo placed his chin on her head, letting out a sigh as well as a shiver. Her body was freezing, just like the outside. _How long had she been out here? _he thought.

"You're so cold," he commented, uncharacteristically trying to solve his curiosity. This is the first time he hasn't kept his thoughts to himself, but this night has been many firsts for him.

Just like how this is the first time he's had his heart beat this fast.

"No I'm not," Kozakura countered. "You're just hot." A sudden blush graced her cheeks as she realized just what she had said. "Uhh... I-I just meant..." But as she felt the chest below her rumble from laughter, she knew it was too late for her to explain herself.

Ichigo chuckled, trying his best to keep them from slipping through his lips. Kozakura pushed him away, trying to hide her blush behind her hands but failing miserably. That's when Ichigo allowed a good, hearty laugh escape from his lips. He just couldn't help himself; Kozakura was just too perfect right now.

"Stop laughing!" She demanded embarrassingly. Of course, that only caused Ichigo to laugh even harder. Kozakura pouted childishly and turned her back to him, the blush still covering her cheeks.

"C-come on," he gasped, finally catching his breath and now trying to fix his moment of weakness. "I'm sorry," he said finally, humor still lacing his voice. Kozakura melted at the tone of his voice. However, she wasn't an Espada for being so easily forgiving. Besides, she's Kozakura. She knows how to hold a grudge; it's practically embedded in her DNA.

"Sorry won't cut it," she said, forcing those words out through clenched teeth. She started to walk away. "I don't think we can go on our date anymore."

Those words should've petrified Ichigo's; however, the strawberry just allowed an amused smile graze his face. Teasing her was so much fun. He normally wasn't this type of person, but even he had a fun side. "If you say so," he challenged.

Challenge accepted. "I mean it," she countered, now a good distance from Ichigo.

"No you don't."

"Yeah I do."

"Ok fine then. You can go!" he yelled teasingly, only adding fuel to Kozakura's fire.

"I will!" she screamed, picking up her pace in fury. How dare he taunt her like that! It left her so infuriated and disgusted and angry and-

"Tomorrow we'll meet here at 11am, ok?"

"11's a little too early. Let's make it 12," she replied sweetly, turning around to face him. It was only when she saw the smile on his face that she realized what she did and cursed herself. Her self-hatred vanished, though, when she saw that the same genuine smile didn't turn into a smug smirk. It was as if he was actually happy to manipulate her like that.

_I'm stupid, _Kozakura thought. How could I feel happy with him easily manipulating me like this? But no matter she tried to make herself hate it, it only generated the butterflies in her stomach to flap faster.

Ichigo took a few steps her direction before ending up right in front of her. _Damn, are my legs really that short? _She thought, staring at their feet. She was clearly embarrassed. Ichigo took note of that before lowering his head down, placing his lips gingerly to her cheek for a long-lasting second before whispering, "12 it is then," in her ear. The blush reappeared on Kozakura's face, this time 3 shades redder than the last.

She hastily turned around and stalked away. Even if she did have naughty thoughts, this man was different from any other person she's ever been with. _I'm acting like a blushing virgin,_ Kozakura scolded herself as she rounded the corner of the street and started to head to the apartment Aizen had bought for missions like these. She probably didn't do enough observing tonight, but she'll make up for it tomorrow. She'd have the entire day to get to know Ichigo personally.

Meanwhile, Ichigo stayed rooted to his spot in contentment, staring at Kozakura's fleeing figure before it vanished from his line of sight when she rounded a corner. He let out a chuckle of disbelief, still unable to believe what had just happened. _When I get this smooth?_ he questioned himself, noting another first of his tonight. The better question, though, is when did I get like this?

It was an excellent question he thought of, one that will keep him company for the remainder of the night. Right now, though, he ran a hand through his hair and turned back around to the direction of his house.

Tonight was interesting. Ichigo allowed another smile to grace his face. Very interesting indeed.

**Feedback is wanted! Thank you!**

**Oh and incase you're wondering, Kozakura means "Little Cherry Tree". Bye!**


End file.
